1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric coffee maker, in which the water is transported from a fresh-water tank via a cold water line to a water heater comprising a heating element and from there, through a hot-water line, to a coffee filter.
2. Prior Art
In known coffee makers of this type, the hot-water line and the coffee filter as well as the coffee pot disposed underneath the filter are still cold at the start of the brewing process and must first be warmed up, in the process of which they remove part of the heat from the transported hot water. In the customary household coffee makers, cold water stands furthermore in the standpipe up to the level of the water surface in the fresh-water tank when the brewing process starts. In that case, the standpipe is part of the hot-water line and therefore, cold water is downstream from the water heater and is pushed out of the hot-water line into the filter at the start of the brewing process and then flows into the coffee pot. For these reasons, it is impossible to take a small amount of coffee such as one or two cups from the coffee maker really hot immediately after the end of the brewing, which is true especially for coffee makers which are designed for a larger maximum volume of coffee. The prepared coffee must therefore still be heated up subsequent to the brewing process by the hot plate.